How to Pressure Cook Frozen Vegetables

Did you know that a pressure cooker offers one of the most convenient and energy efficient ways to cook frozen vegetables? Whether you’re planning to pressure cook frozen vegetables from your garden or the farmer’s’ market or frozen vegetables you’ve bought at the grocery store, we’re confident you’ll quickly get hooked on the speed and ease in which pressure cooking prepares food!

Learning How to Pressure Cook Frozen Vegetables

While instructions for using your pressure cooker will vary depending on model and size, most frozen vegetables will cook in 2 to 3 minutes. If you don’t have the cookbook or instruction guide that came with your model, there are many websites that can offer times and pressure levels for cooking frozen vegetables. Pressure cooking your frozen vegetables preserves all of the rich flavor, color, and nutrients – but beware – overcooking can have very unappetizing results!

Follow the directions carefully, and if you’re unsure, it’s best to pressure cook frozen vegetables for less time, and then cook for a little longer if you find your food under-cooked.

Pressure cooking frozen vegetables has nutritional benefits over traditional stove-top methods as it helps to preserve water-soluble vitamins that diminish when boiling veggies. When cooking in the pressure cooker, add your veggies to a steamer basket, place the minimum amount of water required at the bottom (typically between a half cup and full cup of water depending on the model) and set the time. In a few minutes, your vegetables will be ready to serve, and you can save the vegetable-infused liquid that is leftover for use in cooking soups, pasta, rice or grains

Why use a pressure cooker?

Compared to other stove-top cooking methods, pressure cooking uses minimal water. It’s similar to steaming, but the difference is that the steam is not allowed to escape, and it is through the power of the steam that puts the “pressure” in pressure cooking.

Almost all foods contain a certain amount of water. As the water in the food heats up, molecular changes occur that ultimately results in the food becoming cooked. In places where the outside air pressure is lower due to the high elevation (Denver, Colorado, for example) water boils at 204F. However, if you’re at sea level, water boils at 212F. The temperature of the water will never exceed its boiling point as that’s when it turns to steam. However, when you increase the air pressure, you CAN raise the boiling point of water.

Why is this important? If you live in a high-altitude, increasing cooking times for moist foods is necessary because water boils at 204F, turning up the temperature on your stove or range will not work.

Through trapping steam, most pressure cookers raise the boiling point of water inside them to around 225-235F, and this is why they cook food much faster than conventional methods.

Cooking at higher temperatures doesn’t destroy any more nutrients. It’s not the temperature that matters, but the amount of time your food spends cooking. By cooking foods within a shorter period, pressure cookers preserve more nutrients despite the higher temperatures.

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Pressure Cook Frozen Vegetables with Tommy’s

Frozen vegetables, whether they were bought at the grocery store or come from your garden, offer a delicious and convenient way to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. All of Tommy’s flash-frozen vegetable medleys are suitable for pressure cooking, simply follow the directions that come with your model. Whether you’re pressure cooking our Seasoned Vegetable Medley, Seasoned Brussels Sprouts, Super Greens, or Sweet Potatoes, you won’t have to wait long before each delicious dish makes its way to the dinner table.